I don't think so, they're still playing with below average point guards (or no point guards in some cases).

In D'Antoni's system, missing Steve Nash is a pretty big hole to fill.

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D'Antoni is too stubborn to realize this squad doesn't have the players needed to playing a fast paced game. The Lakers can score (well, at least Kobe can be counted for that), but just like every D'Antoni team, they don't play defense.

Gasol isn't being utilized properly, Howard can't get Kobe to give up the rock, Kobe's 30+ points nights = 1-10 for the team, Nash is definitely showing his age, and the bench is just a mess. Howard's FT issues will bite LA in the butt in close games.

In the game against Cleveland, Kobe(28 )-Artest(12)-Jamison(10) each shot the ball more than Howard(9). I'm no fan of Kobe, but I can't really blame him for how mediocre this team is. That said, Kobe should be a facilitator for the offense in the absence of decent PG play. As it is, teams will allow Kobe to get his and just frustrate the rest of the Lakers.

Turnovers, free throws, lack of 4th quarter defense, inconsistent play from most of the team, and playing in a anarchistic offense scheme = mediocrity.

I thought he was deliberately missing so his teamates would get the ball.
In high school, we had a great rebounding team. Coach asked all the freethrow shooters to aim for the back of the rim, to get the long bounce.
They did, we did our job, and secured over 70% of the rebounds off our deliberately missed free throws.

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You know the ball has to hit the rim for the guys to try and rebound it right? Coming up 10 ft short on a free throw isnt a good idea in any way.

D'Antoni is too stubborn to realize this squad doesn't have the players needed to playing a fast paced game. The Lakers can score (well, at least Kobe can be counted for that), but just like every D'Antoni team, they don't play defense.

Gasol isn't being utilized properly, Howard can't get Kobe to give up the rock, Kobe's 30+ points nights = 1-10 for the team, Nash is definitely showing his age, and the bench is just a mess. Howard's FT issues will bite LA in the butt in close games.

In the game against Cleveland, Kobe(28 )-Artest(12)-Jamison(10) each shot the ball more than Howard(9). I'm no fan of Kobe, but I can't really blame him for how mediocre this team is. That said, Kobe should be a facilitator for the offense in the absence of decent PG play. As it is, teams will allow Kobe to get his and just frustrate the rest of the Lakers.

Turnovers, free throws, lack of 4th quarter defense, inconsistent play from most of the team, and playing in a anarchistic offense scheme = mediocrity.

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How bout Kyrie Irving, brought the Cadavers back from the Walking Dead.

First, the guy has to know the rules.
For sure, nobody mentioned it in 8th grade ball, and I don't recall anyone specifically mentioning it in 9th grade either.
Does the free throw shooter look like an Einstein to you? Certainly not to me.

In the game against Cleveland, Kobe(28 )-Artest(12)-Jamison(10) each shot the ball more than Howard(9). I'm no fan of Kobe, but I can't really blame him for how mediocre this team is. That said, Kobe should be a facilitator for the offense in the absence of decent PG play. As it is, teams will allow Kobe to get his and just frustrate the rest of the Lakers.

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FG attempts alone can be deceiving as far as how much Dwight really shot the ball. Have to also look at his FT attempts - 22 - and see that it's not truly 9 'shots' since it's extremely likely he went to the FT line on at least 9 or 10 shots that don't count towards FG attempts.

I remeber in 10th grade we played this team that had two guys that were super tall. I played Center/PF and am only like 6'1". They had a 6'7" guy and a 6'5".

Our coach told us whenver these guys got the ball with 7 feet of the basket just hack them and dont let the shot go in. I thought thats not a good idea. I will foul out and they will score points. Coach told me since I was the only white guy on our team the refs would give me leeway and said I always be hackin anyway. I had no retort.

The dude caught the ball I hacked him out him on the line. his first free throw went over the backboard and the 2nd was airballed. They went to him again and we hacked him he hit the front of the iron and another air ball. The team never ran another play to him the rest of the game.

The other dude was guadring me and I spun moved around him and he stuck his knee out to trip me. I got the hoop and the harm while the guy laid on the floor holding said knee he tripped me with. He left the game and never came back.

Thos two big guys were so soft I had no problems boxniog them out and keep ing them off the offensive glass. We ended up beating them by 20.

Wow, we had a 6'9" guy who tried out for the team. He was just as soft, and even though this was 8th grade, he never made any basketball team, even though he shot fine. Just too soft.
I played all 3 years in high school for Lincoln in SF. I graduated at 5'5" around 120 lbs. Nobody called me soft.
Short, unskilled, a hack, dirty, yes.

I'm confused.
6'9" doesn't make you a basketball player. You still gotta box out, bump, run, practice, set picks, and rebound. A soft player can't do any of the above, even rebound.
CharlesBarkley could still dominate WNBA. At 6'4" and a hair, he almost dominated at power forward, except for shooting against McHale and Parrish.
BritGrier is 6'8". Is she gonna dominate in WNBA?

I'm confused.
6'9" doesn't make you a basketball player. You still gotta box out, bump, run, practice, set picks, and rebound. A soft player can't do any of the above, even rebound.
CharlesBarkley could still dominate WNBA. At 6'4" and a hair, he almost dominated at power forward, except for shooting against McHale and Parrish.
BritGrier is 6'8". Is she gonna dominate in WNBA?

The hair of about 1/4".
I saw Barkley at the AMEX at HardingPark, and he is no taller than that. Certainly not a full 6'5".
Which makes his exploits in the NBA even more amazing. He could box out, that's for sure.

The hair of about 1/4".
I saw Barkley at the AMEX at HardingPark, and he is no taller than that. Certainly not a full 6'5".
Which makes his exploits in the NBA even more amazing. He could box out, that's for sure.

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Barkley was a hell of a player. I'll even go as far as to say he changed the power forward position. He was the first guy that was undersized, but could haul down rebounds like no other, can pound you to death inside, has a shooting touch, can pass the ball, and most importantly, the guy had handles for his size.

If you watch old highlights where he grabs a rebound, and start a fastbreak by himself. It's not like teams didnt get back on defense, he just outran and outhandled other teams, and brought people up to the rim with him as he dunked.

The stuff that Barkley used to do was breathtaking. When asked who he considered the greatest PFs ever were, he put Tim Duncan at 1, McHale 2, himself 3, and Karl Malone 4. No love for The Mailman, I guess!

The stuff that Barkley used to do was breathtaking. When asked who he considered the greatest PFs ever were, he put Tim Duncan at 1, McHale 2, himself 3, and Karl Malone 4. No love for The Mailman, I guess!

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Karl Malone had to create a lot less because he played with John Stockton. But he is still one of the greatest power forward ever. And that guy can shoot the lights out!

I'm confused.
6'9" doesn't make you a basketball player. You still gotta box out, bump, run, practice, set picks, and rebound. A soft player can't do any of the above, even rebound.
CharlesBarkley could still dominate WNBA. At 6'4" and a hair, he almost dominated at power forward, except for shooting against McHale and Parrish.
BritGrier is 6'8". Is she gonna dominate in WNBA?

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Im saying if I had the same skills I do at 6'1" but was actually 6'9".

Those skills are good enough at 6'1" that I could be like a 25-20 in WNBA and play monster D.

Griner will be OK in WNBA becuase 6'8" 125lbs is good enough against women. She should be close to the same as she is in college.

The stuff that Barkley used to do was breathtaking. When asked who he considered the greatest PFs ever were, he put Tim Duncan at 1, McHale 2, himself 3, and Karl Malone 4. No love for The Mailman, I guess!

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Thats probably fair. If you watch McHale that guys had the best offensive post game of all time IMO. His feet were great and he had so many moves, he would you set you up with one move, then fake that move into another move. When you figured out the 2d move he would fake you out with both the go to the third. Once he had to use the 4th move he would be like comboing his moves.

Malone was a beast but he never stepped up and took a game over. Thats why i cant rank him any higher.

Will have to go "old school" on y'all in saying anyone who can go 71/25 in a regular season game and 61/22 in a clinching title game is the top forward of all time...Elgin Baylor!

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I agree on both of these. Karl Malone was good, but he was goo dlike Cal Ripken was good. Played at a high level for a long time, was never looked at as a top 5 player, and filled the stat sheets up for 20 years.

The Lakers are definitely Mike D'Antoni's team now, giving up 41points in the 1st quarter! :shock:

That's a half for some other teams!

And this game really magnify my knock on Dwight Howard and him being unproductive unless he's underneath the basket. There is no reason why, an older, recently out of retirement, out of his prime, Rasheed Wallace can keep Dwight Howard out of the paint. But yet, Rasheed Wallace can keep Howard in front of him, because he's got no moves!

Kobe's back looks to be giving him problem?

Charles Barkley: "That's because he's carrying around a lot of dead weight."

If he passed the ball, his teammates would call him more a team player, he wouldn't get fouled and need FT's, he could watch Kobe play a little more, and his offensive skill set would be less exposed.
Imagine the TERROR in him, if he leaned in, created space, shot a sky hook airball, and got fouled.

Perhaps I should have inserted the parenthetical "TIC" to convey my sarcasm. Still, to be a perennial Western Conference doormat and travel 3,000 miles into the defending champions' arena and escape with even a narrow victory...it must have felt as good to them as a "beatdown".

I hate to bug this thread with Magic posts but that is my team. We are playing really well considering how bad we were supposed to be. Right now very close to a 7-8 playoff seed.

Most of you guys will not see many magic games and the thought of it may make you throw up in your mouth, but this team is so well coached that I think it will be a pleasant surprise. The ball movement is fantastic. Really enjoy watching this team and it is a rebuilding year for us. Plus we have not played Harrington once, and he is the best scorer on the team.